The present invention relates generally to a device and method for spreading apart and transferring rows of block-like articles such as bricks, blocks or split tiles from the cutting area to an accumulator.
Some brick and/or brick-like manufacturing processes move the newly cut bricks directly to an area where they are grouped, lifted, spread apart and stacked in a hack on a kiln car while other processes first transfer each row of newly cut bricks to a pallet in a spaced-apart condition for drying and/or other processing prior to hacking and firing. This invention is concerned with an improvement in the latter general type of process. It may also find use in analogous manufacturing processes for other brick-like articles made from clay such as tile, blocks, etc.
In such processes, spreading is usually required following the cutting of bricks, since the bricks would then still be essentially in an abutting relationship or at least not properly spaced for drying purposes. For example, the bricks may be cut by pushing an extruded section of clay column laterally through a set of vertical wire cutters.
The present invention produces fixed or variable spacing as desired in a manner which not only increases the capacity of the process, but which also reduces the space requirements for associated machinery.
It is known that the spreading apart of block-like items, such as bricks, can be accomplished if the entire row of blocks is transported transversely to the lateral direction in which the row of bricks had been moving through the wire cutters. This, however, requires that the apparatus be wider, at least at some point, than the length of the row of bricks and requires additional time-consuming processing steps.
It is also now well known that the cutting of extruded column sections of clay material into individual bricks can be accomplished by moving the extruded column pieces sideways or laterally through a wire cutter with the wires being spaced in a predetermined pattern so as to produce bricks of a desired size. The lateral direction of movement of that column can be termed the "machine direction" for the purposes of the present discussion.
After the cutting operation, the bricks have in the past been moved transversely or in a cross-machine direction by a first conveyor away from the cutting area and deposited onto a second faster moving conveyor. By combining such transverse movement with the transfer of bricks to the second faster moving conveyor, proper spacing between bricks has been obtained. However, while the individual bricks will have thus become spaced from adjacent bricks in a lateral direction, the entire group or row of bricks has been moved away from the machine direction. As will be appreciated, deviations in the flow of bricks out of or away from continuous movement in the machine direction lengthens processing time. Further, the additional apparatus to accomplish such spacing requires the use of greater amounts of floor space.
The previously known types of apparatus as just discussed have usually been of considerable length, and the articles or bricks have been transported at relatively high velocities. Such high velocities often cause machinery malfunctions or damage the newly-formed but yet undried bricks.
The present invention accomplishes both the transfer of the newly-formed undried blocks or bricks to an accumulator and the desired separation or spacing of those undried blocks in a faster, less complex manner than heretofore. Further, this spacing is accomplished without the need for transporting the blocks in a cross-machine direction away from the area of cutting and out of the path of the machine direction. The apparatus, according to the present invention, is also more compact which reduces the space required for such machinery and also allows the processing speed to be increased.